What Happened Next
by Nessa Elendil
Summary: Lily and James find out what happens after death. -rating changed just in case-
1. Death

_**Disclaimer: I don't own HP.**_

Lily Potter sat on the living room couch holding her small son, Harry, on her lap. It was Halloween, and Lily was now positive that her mother was right when she said not to watch all of those horror movies because they would come back to haunt her. The fact that her family was wanted dead by a powerful nemesis didn't help the matter.

Lily held her baby, only just over a year old, close as she lost herself in thought. She hoped his father, her husband, would be home soon, Lily didn't like being alone, especially now.

At some point, Lily must have fallen asleep, because the first thing she noticed as she opened her eyes was that Harry was no longer on her lap. She sprang up into a sitting position faster than she could blink and her voice stuck between her erratic breathing and the desire to scream and cry out at the same time.

"Lily? Love, what is it?" a concerned and gentle voice asked her as a hand rubbed her back.

Her eyes scanned the room and Lily sighed with relief when she saw Harry sitting on the floor, happily playing with his favorite stuffed bear, Blotchy.

"Oh, James," she whispered, leaning back into him, her breathing still heavy.

He put his strong arms securely around her and rested his cheek against the side of her head. "Are you ok?" he asked.

Lily slowly nodded. Her voice was shaky and weak, "Yes, it's just... I didn't even know I was asleep, then I wake up and... and-"

"Shh. It's all right. I came home, you were sleeping and holding Harry. He really wanted to get down, he was squirming like mad, so I put him down and gave him Blotchy. I didn't want to wake you, you haven't been sleeping well lately, so I just sat with you. I'd never let anything happen to you or Harry, you know that, Lils. I love you."

She nodded again, slightly calmer this time, and wrapped her arms around James's neck. He helped Lily scoot into his lap and just held her there as she inhaled his scent and allowed her fears and uncertainty to be swept away.

James softly kissed her temple. "Go back to sleep, love. You'll feel better in the morning."

Lily sighed contentedly and cuddled closer to James. She couldn't help thinking about the fractions that she used to hate, but two halves do make a whole, and James and Harry made her whole. Lily didn't know what she would do if she had to live without one, or worse, both of them.

"I love you," Lily whispered to him.

"I love you, too," James whispered back.

Lily laid her head on her husband's chest, took one of his hands in both of hers, and held on tight. "James?"

"Hmm?"

"He's perfect," Lily said, smiling and looking over at their son.

James smiled. "You both are."

The clock on the mantle chimed eleven times.

"James, we have to put Harry to bed. He was supposed to be asleep hours ago."

"Alright, Lily, I'll do that, you get some more rest." James gently eased Lily off of him, stood, and picked up Harry.

"Ok." Lily thought quickly for a moment. "And James, the sooner you put Harry to bed, the sooner you can put me to bed," Lily said, with a slight smile and biting her bottom lip, her eyes full of love and desire.

James smiled back at her. "I think I'll take you up on that."

He turned to take Harry upstairs and Lily sunk back into the couch, closing her eyes and smiling. With recent events, she and James didn't have much time together for only each other, so every time there was time, they were sure to make the most of it.

Lily bolted up, her eyes now wide and fearful.

James ran back into the room, still holding Harry. "What was that?"

"I don't know."

Another loud crash was heard at the door, like someone trying to get in.

Lily stood as fast as she could and ran to James and Harry. "James?"

"Shhh," he said. He drew his wand and peeked out the front window. "Fuck," he whispered.

"James, what is it?" Lily asked as another crash echoed off the walls. She was scared now, and was sure it showed in her voice.

"It's him - he's here."

"Wh-what?"

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off--" James gave Harry to Lily and turned to fight the... thing that was trying to kill his son. As he took a step towards the door, he felt something hold him back. Lily. She was holding his hand, not letting go of him or Harry. Silent tears were cascading down her cheeks. She knew if James stayed to fight Voldemort, he would die.

James hated it when she cried, it was like watching his world fall apart. Lily was his world after all. Lily and Harry. He felt his own tears threaten to fall, but he refused to let them. He needed to be strong... for her.

Another crash came, but the door still held.

James took his wife in his arms and kissed her with all the passion and love he had left in him. He felt Lily give him all of hers back. When they broke apart, James just held her, unable to look at his love.

Another crash. They could hear the spells protecting the door starting to give.

James pulled back and looked deep into Lily's eyes, the eyes he loved so much. "I love you," he said, truth in every word. "Both of you." He gently kissed Harry's forehead, knowing he would never get to raise his own son.

"I love you, too, so much," Lily answered, trying to be strong.

Another crash and the door was halfway down.

James kissed Lily again and, even though Death was at their door, both felt safe in the other's embrace. They were in love, and they found it undying.

"Go," James whispered.

Lily fled, stumbling to the other side of the room. She turned for one last look at the man she loved. "I'll always love you, James."

"I'll love you forever, Lily, I always have."

"So have I."

Lily turned again and ran through her house as they heard the door finally be broken, and James went to seal his fate, not being able to help but think why they hadn't stuck with Sirius as Secret Keeper.

Lily could hear shouts and spells as she ran and cried, desperate to get out, to save her child.

She reached the back door, still able to hear her husband defending her. Maybe they would get out of this alive after all, the Potters had defeated Voldemort three times before, why should this time be any different? Lily grabbed the handle of the back door after throwing open the locks and wrenched it open.

"Boo."

"AHH!" Lily screamed at the top of her lungs as a Death Eater stood, waiting, and grabbed her wrist.

"LILY!" she heard James scream after her.

"Just give me the baby, Mudblood, and we may let you live," the Death Eater sneered at her.

_Not my son!_ The thought raced through Lily's head with defiance. She would _never_ let them have Harry. "No!" Lily brought her foot up and kicked the Death Eater as hard as she could.

He moaned in pain and Lily was able to tear her wrist out of his grasp. She turned and fled. She had to find another way out. She ran through her home, banging into walls as she looked behind her to see if she was being followed. The only thing Lily cared about was keeping Harry safe. She reached the front hall in time to see James shout a hex at Voldemort, Voldemort block it and send a flash of green light at James, and James fall back dead, all in less than a second; to Lily though, James took a lifetime to fall.

"NO!" Lily screamed when her brain registered what had happened. Her tears fell completely free now, there was no hand to wipe them away. James Potter was dead. Half of her world was gone forever.

Voldemort looked over at her from his most recent victim as if this were nothing new, yet triumphant all the same. He had disposed of a powerful rival, one close to Dumbledore.

"Daddy? Dada!" Harry squealed, holding his little arms out to the body on the floor. "DADDY!"

Lily looked up from her husband's dead form, still crying freely from it, to see his murderer pointing his wand directly at Harry. "NO!"

She forced herself to move, half-running, half-pulling herself up the stairs with the banister while Voldemort paitently walked up after her. Lily held Harry to her chest and she could hear him screaming for his father. A father who had always been there by the second, but rarely third, cry at most, and it tore her heart out.

Lily reached the top of the stairs and ran as fast as she could to the room at the far end of the corridor, Harry's room. She reached the knob and looked to see the shadow of Death coming up the stairs, know she had no way out.

She struggled with the dooor knob, crying and panicking, willing it to open. Voldemort reached the top and turned to face her, slowly walking as if murder was no different than a midnight trip to the kitchen.

Lily could see the gleam in his eyes now, the gleam that told her her child, her baby, was going to die, just like her husband.

The knob suddenly turned, and Lily, gasping with triumph, forced the door open.

Not a second too soon, Lily and Harry were through the door, and Lily, holding Harry with her right arm, used her left to slam the door shut.

"AAH!" Lily began tearing again as she felt a searing pain shoot through her arm and it went limp as Voldemort threw a spell at the door to force it open, but Lily refused to let it budge.

She forced her arm to work again, and made her hand lock the door. In an instant, Lily had put Harry down, pulled out her wand, and began shouting every blocking and protecting spell she knew at the door. That had to hold him off, at least for a little while. Lily hid Harry in a bundle of blankets and would have put a silencing charm on him too had she not been using her wand to repair her damaged protection spells as Voldemort tried to get through, and she tried to find a way out.

The window was too high to jump out of, and even if she used magic, Lily was sure there would be Death Eaters standing by.

Harry's calling for his daddy killed Lily inside, and the feeling only got worse when she told him everything would be ok soon, that Daddy would be up in a minute; all the while knowing he would never come.

For twenty minutes, Lily must have held off the evil that had come to destroy her family, and had already succeeded.

As Lily was thinking over James, she knew she shouldn't be, not yet, but she was, she remembered coming home after they had first joined the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization run by their old Headmaster against Voldemort. It was before they were married, not even a month after school; and James had been so genuinely worried for Lily's safety that he immediately grabbed some floo powder out of a pot on the mantle, put it in a bag, and the bag in Lily's pocket, then kissed her lovingly.

"Always carry this with you," he had said, "so you can get away. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Lily was about to tell him she would never run, but saw the look in his eyes, the indescribable look, and couldn't. She had given herself to him for the first time that night, and she didn't regret it. Neither of them ever knew if they would live to see tomorrow, and they wanted to be sure they were together and had proved their love in every way possible. They were married not two weeks later.

Lily reached into her pocket, and sure enough, the floo powder James had given her about four years ago was still there. She was nearly crying from relief when she realized a problem: the only fireplace was downstairs, and Voldemort was blocking the only way to get there. But she continued to hold him off, this time with more confidence, they were going to escape without stepping outside of the house.

She considered for a moment blasting the door into Voldemort and running, but that could prove foolhardy, he could blast it in first.

Lily knew she'd have to make one; unfortunately, her wand was in use.

Looking over at Harry wrapped in blankets screaming for James and occasionally her, Lily repaired the door one last time before flicking her wand to move all the furniture in front of it, then tried to transfigure a part of the wall into a fireplace.

"No, no, no, NO!" Lily panicked as the wall kept starting to return to normal whenever she moved her wand to strengthen the door. "Work, work, please work!" But Transfiguration had always been James's subject, just as Charms had been hers. "James! Help!" she called out to him, willing him to answer, but knowing he never would, her first scream that night had been the last he ever could.

Lily was crying harder, she needed the fireplace to work. She began to spend more time on it than she should have, and she knew it. The fireplace was almost done when the door blew in.

"NO! HARRY!"Lily abandoned her attempt to create a fireplace, a mean of escape, and scooped up her son, holding him as close and tightly as possible. She would _not_ lose him too.

"Li-ly," Voldemort taunted her in a mocking voice. "Why don't you just give up? Potter is dead, he died because of you. If he hadn't been bonded to a Mudblood do you think he would have so readily accepted his fate? He just wanted it to end, and I helped him out. Now let me have that thing you are holding, and I will let you live. You can find something of your own species to breed with, only more things to exterminate on a slow, boring day."

"SHUT UP!" Lily yelled at him. "DON'T TALK ABOUT THEM LIKE THAT!" Lily knew his words were lies, but wouldn't hear anyone insult her James like that, especially his murderer, and she'd be damned if she allowed anyone to speak of Harry that way. Lily was shaking and her eyes were watering from so many emotions; anger, hate, love, sorrow, fear, she didn't know which was the cause.

"Give me the baby."

"NO!"

Voldemort held up his wand and advanced, his eyes flashing in anger. He was getting tired of this, he came to kill the child the prophecy spoke of, and he had already waited a long time to do so.

"That baby is going to die - NOW!"

Lily didn't know what else to do. She had beg, plea, anything. "Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!"

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside, now..."

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead--"

"Stand aside!"

"Not Harry! Please... have mercy... have mercy..."

"Move, now!"

"Not Harry! Not Harry! Please - I'll do anything--"

"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"

"Please!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The jet of green light hit Lily squarely in the chest before she even had time to react.

Voldemort raised his wand again to carry out what he came to do. "Pathetic," he muttered as he looked down at Harry Potter before repeating the words he had used to kill the baby's father and mother, only something went wrong. As the spell hit the screaming child, it did not silence him, but rebound upon Voldemort, who screamed in wrenched agony as the light hit him, but refused to kill him.

As the evil that came and killed left nothing but a tiring baby wanting his parents to come pick him up and hold him, the clock struck twelve times.


	2. Hall of the Dead

James Potter was sitting on a flat rock formation near the entrance to the Hall of the Dead. What was weird to James was that he had never been more worried in all his life than when he was dead, and it wasn't because he may very soon have to "meet his maker". 

He'd heard Lily's scream. She and Harry should have been safe out the back door, but he heard her scream. He had seen her face before he fell. She had seen him die, Harry too. 

James only prayed with every fiber of his being that they got out safely. His life would've meant nothing without them, and now he'd never see them again, not until they met his fate. 

"Excuse me," a man said. "You must proceed. All those who do not access themselves through the Soul Door will fade after seven minutes." 

"How long have I been here for?" James asked, eyeing the uniformed man suspiciously. 

"Three." 

"And, what, do you work here?" 

"Indeed, I do." 

"Well I've still got four minutes, I need to know." His voice faded so only he could hear it. What would he do if they died? 

What would he do if they lived?

* * *

Lily Potter had just died. Or did she? 

Something had happened, but she didn't _feel _dead. She was still breathing, still felt a pulse, so could this be the afterlife? One in which the deceased truly lived, not merely existed? 

A thought occurred. If she really had died, then... 

"James!"

* * *

James's head shot up from its position in his hands. _No..._

He heard it again, only more pained, more desperate.

* * *

"James!" 

Tears rushed to Lily's eyes as she wandered helplessly, lost and looking for the man she loved. He should have been easy to spot in a crowd, but he was no where to be seen. 

Horrible thoughts began to form in the redhead's mind. What if James hadn't really died? And she was here alone... and Harry, oh her little child! What would James do, if he lived and they didn't? Would he try to hurt himself? Would he blame himself? Or, worse, what if he really had died and because she was Muggleborn, she went to a different place now that she died? Would she ever see him again? And what about Harry? 

"Stop thinking like that," Lily silently ordered herself. "It's just those awful Slytherins putting thoughts in your head again." 

Looking around the bare cave filled with people, Lily wondered where she could be. Biting her lip, she reasoned it couldn't be Hell because no one seemed to be, well... suffering. 

But what if James was there? Thinking back to all the horrible things he had done at Hogwarts, she realized it wouldn't be entirely impossible... 

"Cut it out," she muttered. "You were just as terrible to him as he was to Snape." Her tone was malicious, filled with self hate that she had maybe even gone so far as to _want_ to hurt the man she now sought during her youth... only those few, short years ago. 

"Lily!"

* * *

Giving up on searching, James began shouting. He needed to find Lily, let her know that he'd find her, she'd be safe in this strange place, and they'd be together again soon. 

He'd been without her for longer periods before, but never before had his arms ached to hold her as they now did. 

"LILY!" 

_Where was she?!_ James knew she was here somewhere, he'd heard her... He had heard her. 

All of a sudden, James's breath went ragged as his muscles tensed. If Lily was dead as well, then Harry was left unprotected against a murderer. Harry was... dead.

* * *

"Oh, thank Merlin." She had just heard him, James's voice as he called out to her. So he _was_ here, but where? 

Lily wheeled around and strained her eyes, desperately trying to find her lost love. 

There he was, standing as if in shock with his back to her. 

"James," she whispered. 

She called to him over and over, and once he heard her, James spun around, and warm relief filled his face. 

Lily was running now, as fast as she could. She needed to get to him, to feel his arms around her, hear his soothing voice in her ear, telling her everything would be all right. 

James was running as well, pushing past anyone who got in his way. Once he had her in his arms again, the nightmare would be over, and he'd wake from a slumber in her arms back at Godric's Hollow. 

They got closer and closer, until Lily collapsed in her husband's arms, just crying as he held her, stroking and kissing her hair, and whispering soft words of comfort and "I love you"s into her ear. 

She buried her face in his chest. 

"Oh, James, I thought... I thought - you - I --" 

"Shh, love, I'm right here." 

Following, perhaps, the rule of irony, the moment those words left James's lips, Lily fell right through him. 

"James! What-?" 

James looked down at himself, he was semi-transparent. He swore under his breathe. The time limit. 

"Excuse me, Mister-" the man dressed like the one who first warned James about the seven minute rule checked his clipboard "-Potter. You have just become an emergency case, will you and your wife please follow me to the Quick Door?" 

"Emergency!" Lily exclaimed. "What's going on? James, are you going to be ok? Do you know where Harry is?" she demanded of the man. 

"Babies go straight through. This way, please." 

"Straight through what?" This time it was James who spoke. 

Ignoring him, the man said, "This way." 

James and Lily followed the apparent employee of the Hall of the Dead as the crowd magically thinned in his presence. He led them to a crevasse in the cave wall large enough for a man to walk through. 

"Now, if you'll enter the Deed Detector, there is one behind the Soul Door as well, you will cease to fade and you may wait for Missis Potter to come through behind you before proceeding." 

"The what detector?" James asked. 

"James, just go!" Lily bowed her head sadly and whispered, "I don't want to lose you again. I love you, James." 

"I love you, too, Lils. I don't want to lose you either." 

Lily looked up and smiled, her eyes shining with a new wave of tears. 

_She's still so beautiful._ James thought as he smiled in return, then took a deep breath and stepped into the crevasse, wondering what kind of Hell awaited him after this, because he sure knew he didn't deserve to go where Lily went, no one did.

* * *

**_A/N: If you could review, it'd help me get the next chapter written._**


	3. The Path to the Afterlife

Lily watched her husband walk through the Dead Detector, and disappear to the other side as a bright, white light shown at the top. 

Her eyes widened in shock. Where did he go? "James!" 

"Mrs. Potter, if you will, please-" 

"Where'd he go? What happened to my husband?!" That feeling of panic returned, steadily rising in her body, until it began to pour out of her eyes. "Where is he?" she sobbed. 

"Mrs. Potter, your husband is fine, that is only a security feature. If you will step through the Detector, you can join him on the other side." 

Tears still flowed down the redhead's face, but she had managed to gain control and silence the horrible cries that had racked her body. Lily nodded her head in understanding, and prepared to step through.

* * *

James looked down at his body, pleased to find that he was, in fact, solid once again. He turned to see Lily step through... and vanish. 

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter," said another employee, this one female. "I did not think you would have any trouble making it through." 

"What the hell just happened?!" James swore at her. 

The employee looked taken aback. "You have been admitted. I believe what you call 'Muggles' refer to this place as 'Heaven'." 

"Not to me, to Lily!" he all but hollered. 

She sighed, and James could tell she probably didn't have the patience of the other employees he had met. 

"Allow me to check."

* * *

Lily stepped through the Detector, only to find herself facing it from the outside again. 

"Mrs. Potter," the employee said to her, "were you feeling any strong, negative emotions as you stepped through the Detector?" 

Lily thought for a second. "Well wouldn't you? My husband and son were murdered in front of me! And all because we thought he was our friend!" 

She turned to step through again, to feel a hand on her arm stop her. 

"Mrs. Potter, what we did to bring you back to this side, we can't do again. If the Dete gets the same reading, you will be sent to what you refer to as 'Hell'." 

Lily nodded. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She thought of Harry, of James, of everyone she loved, trying to feel good, happy. Another breath for nerves, and she stepped through.

* * *

James saw Lily come through a second time, and she didn't disappear. 

He ran forward and gathered her in his arms, spinning her around. 

"You had me worried there for a sec," James said as he put his wife down. Lily just smiled. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter," the female employee said. "If you will follow that path you will come to your house." 

"Our house?" 

The employee huffed. "We are very busy right now and would appreciate if you did all you could to not make our jobs more difficult." 

"All right, then," James stated. 

"Wait," Lily said. "And our baby, he'll be there, right?" 

"All under age children go directly to the parents' home!" 

"Thank you." 

The Potters started down the path the employee had directed them to. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't the usual picture of death either; it was like an empty meadow in fall, the pathway long and straight. It felt like autumn too. 

Lily shivered, she was only wearing what she had died in, which wasn't much because she had been indoors. 

James put his arms around her and said, "Let's hurry, I want to make sure Harry's ok." 

Lily nodded, "Me too." 

They didn't know how long they walked in silence, but, suddenly, each felt a tug at the navel, like they had touched a Portkey. 

"What was that?" James asked. 

"I don't..." Lily looked around. "James! James, we're here!" 

"Huh?" 

"We're home!" 

James looked to where Lily's eyes were transfixed. It was their home in Godric's Hollow, looking just as it had before the attack. 

"Lily! We did it!" 

But Lily didn't hear, she was running to the front door. "Harry!"

**_A/N: Sorry, it was this or no update for a while. I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner, but in the meantime, what'd you think of this one?_**


	4. The Potter House

James Potter tore after his wife as she ran to their house.

Lily ran through the front door, not bothering to even try to close it. Everything was how they'd left it, right before Voldemort showed up. Bolting up the stairs, she headed for her child's room.

"James!"

"What?! What is it?!"

As James ran up behind her, Lily fell back into his arms, crying. Slowly, James turned them both from the door opened to the room, the void, the blackhole, where Harry's room should have been, and, leaning against a wall, he slid himself and Lily to the floor, his legs unable to support the weight.

Lily's tears were soaking through his shirt, but James didn't notice, he didn't even notice his own tears that were mixing with his wife's fiery hair.

"Where i-is he?" the mother of the missing child managed to choke out. She didn't have a problem spending eternity in her home with her husband, but she didn't think she could last without knowing, seeing for herself, that her precious son was safe and in good, caring, _loving_ hands. Her own arms.

"I don't know, Lils," James answered. His voice wasn't his own, it was as if James couldn't think to answer, but his voice became its own entity and answered for him.

It took a while for either of them to speak again.

"We have to find him." James had finally regained his voice, and control over it. "C'mon, Lily, there has to be someone here who'll know where he is."

Lily nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes before allowing her husband to help her to her feet. They walked through the house in silence, down the stairs and to the front door, now closed. All thoughts of Voldemort had been forgotten, and the young couple cared now only to find their son.

"Wait a minute." James pulled his wife's hand off the door knob.

"What?"

He pulled a note off the wall; it was hanging just above a green pad where the doorbell would have been if it were on the inside of the house. The note read:

_Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

This pad it known as our Help Button. A tap of your wand will notify your resident E.o.D. that you require assistance in the After Home. Because E.o.D.s have many responsibilities to your eternal well-being and that of numerous others, we must ask that you activate the Help Button only when immediate assistance is required, and only when the Help Button is green.

E.o.D. - Area 5392A

In an instant, James' wand tip was on the green pad. He didn't remove it until they heard a knock at the door.

An older woman stood there, her robes the same blue and style as the employees from the Hall of the Dead, only she had a patch reading '5392A' across the sleeve of each shoulder.

"We have been expecting an assistance request from you, Mr. Potter," she said. Unlike the other employees, she showed a mere hint of emotion, a slight smile could be seen on her wizened face.

"Where's our baby?!" Lily screamed at her.

"Relax, Mrs. Potter. Harry is alive and well."

"Well I don't-- What?" The E.o.D.'s words sunk in. _Harry... alive._ "What do you mean?"

"Come with me, if you will, Mr. and Mrs. Potter." The woman led the Potters through their own home, back to their living son's void of a room. "Were there any other residents living in your household, Mr. Potter?"

"There were, Sirius and Remus, they each had a room, but-"

"Are they alive?"

"Yeah, last- last I heard..."

The woman nodded her head. "Then their rooms will appear the same as your son's room. You see, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, when you step inside of the room of a living person, it acts as a mirror, it shows you what is there, but you cannot interfere with it. You will see your son, be able to watch him grow, hear him when he learns to speak, but he will not see nor hear you, and you cannot explore the world of the living outside of your son's view, or your friends, if you choose to enter their rooms."

Lily made a move to enter the room. "So we can-"

The E.o.D. held her back. "Mrs. Potter, I am terribly sorry, but there are a few items I must first address."

James put his hands on her shoulders and pulled her to him, and Lily nodded her head in understanding.

"Your son, because of your sacrifice, Mrs. Potter, survived a Killing Curse, and defeated Tom Riddle-"

"What?! Who the heck is that even?!" James asked. He knew he'd seen that name before, he'd spent at least a week at Hogwarts in the Trophy Room scrubbing it for various detentions, but he didn't know what it had to do with Harry and a Killing Curse.

"The one who caused you deaths, and the deaths of many others. Because Mr. Riddle interfered so often in the affairs of my employer-"

"Employer?" Lily asked, she didn't like where this was going. She just wanted to get into that room, to see her baby. She wanted to know how all of this was related.

"Yes, E.o.D., Employee of Death, Mrs. Potter. Because Mr. Riddle interfered so often in the affairs of my employer, and it was your son to stop him, Master Death has instructed the installation of something rather special in your home. Do you see those?" She indicated three pads, not unlike the one by the front door, one above each Harry's, Sirius', and Remus' room doors.

The Potters nodded and Death's employee continued. "Harry's is green, the other is Red, and the third is Blue. They will glow, and you will be notified by sound, when something of great significance is happening to one of them. You will be notified also by sound when one of them becomes deceased."

"Okay, thank you," Lily said, now extremely impatient to see her son again.

"Mrs. Potter, I must warn you," the E.o.D. said seriously, "if you dwell in the rooms for too long, you will not be able to get out, and will eventually fade. No one will be able to assist you then. Do you understand?"

Sadly, Lily nodded. "How often?"

"Once every few days," the employee advised. "Any more could be dangerous, especially for one who arrived so soon from Life."

"And, excuse me," James asked the E.o.D. as she turned her back to leave. "Can we visit people? Dead people, I mean."

"Of course," she told him. "You may visit anyone from your Area at any time, but if the person or persons in question reside outside of your Area, you must gain a Visiting Pass from those in question and their resident E.o.D."

"How would we-"

"Contact me, and I will arrange it, Mr. Potter. If that is all, I have another call to make."

James nodded, and he and Lily turned back to Harry's room, only bothering to barely thank their resident E.o.D. of Area 5392A as she bid them good-bye and left. 

**_A/N: Sorry about taking so long to get this up, hope you enjoyed it though!_**


	5. Harry's Room

_**A/N: I'll try and work on this story more from now on. These chapters need to get posted sooner.**_

_**Disclaimer: I use some of the dialogue and plot from GoF in this chapter, just a reminder that it isn't mine. Same goes for the characters.**_

* * *

Lily and James had seen many things happen to their son when standing in his room, and only some of them good. There was the day he finally got his acceptance letter from Hogwarts - James had wanted to rip the Dursley's throats out, postponing that the way they had, among other things - they had seen him sorted into Gryffindor, and then make the Gryffindor Quidditch team - something James was much more proud of than Lily - they had also witnessed as their son came into possession of the Marauder's Map, and save Buckbeak and Sirius from a terrible fate. As well as all that, and much more, they had seen Harry suffer at the hands of the Dursley's for ten years straight. As much as Lily always tried to forgive her sister, when she saw Petunia lock her precious baby in a cupboard, she vowed to claw the woman's eyes out if she had to go to Hell and stay there to do it.

The Potters had also seen things that, although they wished those events had never happened, they couldn't have been prouder of their son for doing. They had seen Harry, with the help of his friends, get through obstacles that many grown wizards wouldn't have been able to get through, then watched as he saved the Sorcerer's Stone from Lord Voldemort; they were shocked to learn that Harry was a Parselmouth, but proud that he was able to defeat a basilisk and destroy the memory of Riddle. And for the past few months, they watched him beat obstacles in a competition he had never signed up to do. And now...

Now, Harry was in a graveyard somewhere where he had just witnessed another student's murder. James's wish that he could affect the world of the living had never been stronger than when he saw Peter Pettigrew stab his son after tying and gagging him. But this battle that Harry was fighting with Voldemort was the worst - and scariest - thing either of them had ever seen. He was surrounded by Death Eaters, dueling a fully reincarnated Lord Voldemort, while he was injured.

Harry jumped out from behind the headstone, and yelled "Expelliarmus!" as Voldemort shouted the Killing Curse. Lily let out a small whimper, and James tried to stay strong for her; neither wanted to see their son die, especially not so young and not like this, but they were powerless to stop it from happening. All they could do was be there for him.

The spells joined, and a golden web of light formed around the two castors.

"James. . ." Lily grabbed her husband's arm for support when she watched her son be lifted off the ground, and now the Phoenix song. "What's happening?"

"I. . . I don't know," he said, just as shocked as she.

Beads formed, almost as like they were spells, and Harry forced them to Voldemort's wand. Past spells cast by the wand began to come in reverse order. After Bertha Jorkins came out, James whispered "We're next." and squeezed Lily's hand.

A sudden pain erupted all over Lily's body, but it was worst just to the right of her heart, exactly where the Killing Curse had hit her all those years ago. That day played back fresh in her memory, as if it were happening all over again. She screamed.

"Lily! Lily!" James fell to the ground beside her as she collapsed.

As quickly as it had come, the pain stopped. When the Potters looked up, Lily had two bodies. The sensation was the oddest Lily had ever felt; she was semi-transparent in Death's realm, and had complete control over her "shadow" in the living world. Controlling two bodies at once, having them preform different actions, and _knowing_ how to do it. . . it was just. . . weird.

Lily placed her shadow's hand on her son's shoulder. She wished she could do so much more than that. "Your father's coming. . . Hold on for your father. . . it will be all right. . . hold on. . ." she said in a quiet voice that was like an echo of her own. Surprisingly, she knew so much more than that; it was like she had all the knowledge of what the shadows were, of what was going on, yet had she been asked to explain it, she wouldn't have been able to.

With her body at Godric's Hollow, Lily held James' hand as well as she could when she heard, with the same body, him scream as she had. Then the scream came to the shadow's ears. Both Lilys watched as a second James came out from the wand, although only one could see the first.

"When the connection is broken, we will linger for only moments. . . but we will give you time. . . you must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts. . . do you understand, Harry?"

Harry agreed to take Cedric Diggory's body back with him.

"Do it now," James whispered to his son, "be ready to run. . . do it now. . ."

"NOW!" Lily and James heard Harry shout. The feeling that they felt when Harry broke the wands' connection was the most confusing either had ever felt. It was as if someone had removed half their brains.

The Lily and James of the graveyard, however, did block Harry from Voldemort's view for the last few moments of their existence, and the Potters in Harry's room watched as their son raced for his life, praying that he wouldn't join them so soon.

* * *

Lily all but collapsed against James, and he let out a breath of relief he hadn't known he was holding when they "Portkeyed" with Harry back to the Hogwarts' Quidditch Pitch, or rather, where a gigantic maze now stood in its place.

"He's alive. . ." Lily breathed out.

"Yeah," James said, in the same disbelieving, but relieved, tone. He sat on the ground next to Harry, just thankful he was alive, and Lily sat next to them.

It took a few minutes, but Dumbledore finally seemed to get things somewhat under control.

"Dumbledore's got this, Lils," James said. "We should go. Check up on him in the morning."

Lily nodded in agreement. It may have been over thirteen "living" years (since the world of Death was timeless), but Lily had never forgotten the words of the woman who introduced herself as EoD - Area 5392A; and she had been coming to Harry's room more often than the EoD had said was "safe." As hard as it was existing in a world without her son, Lily did not want to fade.

The Potters stood and started walking to the outline of a door that would take them to the rest of their house.

"Wait a minute," Lily said, turning around. "James. . ."

James swore when he turned around as well. "What's he think he's doing?!"

James and Lily were hurrying forward as Mad-Eye Moody half-dragged Harry towards the school. What was he thinking? taking Harry out of Dumbledore's sight? They knew his name was "Mad," but this was going too far. Then it hit them both like a weight in the pit of their stomachs.

_The spy at Hogwarts._

They were in "Moody's" office, terrified of what would happen to their child.

"AHH!"

"Lily!"

The solid outline of her body began going in and out of focus. She was fading.

"Run! Go, run! Get out of here!" James cast a worried glance at Harry. "I'll tell what happens, just go!" He didn't want to lose her forever.

Lily looked up at him fearfully, then at Harry. She didn't want to leave her baby when he needed her, but she had to; and James would be with him. So she did.

She bolted to the door, threw it open, and threw herself out of it. The door closed behind her, and Lily sank to the floor as she watched her form solidify before her eyes. Then she cried. Harry could be dead right now, and she had had to leave him.

* * *

A while later, Lily didn't know how long, she felt James lift her up and hold her securely to his chest as he comfortingly stroked her hair. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and tried to control her tears as she prepared to hear the worst.

"How. . . ?" Her voice was shaky and weak.

"He's fine. Harry's fine, love. They gave him a Dreamless Sleep Potion. He'll be fine."

Lily nodded and wiped her emerald eyes, still feeling guilty about having to leave.

James gently pulled away from the embrace to look at his wife, his hands holding her face. "I love you, Lily."

Lily swallowed a sob that was trying to escape and forced a small smile. "I love you, too, James."

She honestly didn't know what she'd do without him, even though they were dead. She had never been more afraid for Harry's life than just then.


	6. After the Veil

About a year later, Lily and James were again standing in Harry's room. Why everything always seemed to happen during that time of the year, they didn't know, but they just wished Harry could finish this school year worried about his O.W.L. results, like nearly every other fifth year, instead of battling with Death Eaters.

But that wasn't all they were wishing for. This battle was going bad. Very bad. Everyone who had come with Harry was injured; Harry himself was doing all right, for which his parents were grateful. The Order of the Phoenix had arrived, but things still weren't looking too good. Mad-Eye had lost his magical eye and was out of the fight. Lily screamed when a Killing Curse narrowly missed Harry. Tonks was down.

"If something doesn't happen soon..." James trailed off, but Lily didn't need to hear the rest of his sentence to know where it was going to end.

Dumbledore arrived, and Lily let out a breath of relief. The Death Eaters didn't stand a chance now. Lily had been watching her son, and only her son, since Dumbledore arrived. Now would be the time the Death Eaters would recognize defeat and decide they'd only go down after giving their master a reason to get them out of the Order's clutches and into a place of high honor among his followers.

"NO!"

"James, what... ?"

James swore violently. "Merlin, no..."

"James, what happened?" Lily asked again. She looked around at the scene before her nervously, looking for what had happened. Then she realized, Sirius was gone.

* * *

Sirius had never been more surprised during any battle than when that Stunning Spell his horrible cousin had sent flying his way hit him square in the chest. He could feel himself falling backwards, and he knew what was behind him.

The first thing Sirius noticed as he fell through the Veil was that the stunning spell no longer held any effect over him, and he didn't hit the ground.

He looked around, but didn't recognize his surroundings. It was a dimly lit cave, not large but not small. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see a few other people were there too. What _was_ this place? His eyes followed two people, an old lady who looked half-dead and a man about his own age dressed in blue robes. Sirius did, however, recognize where these people were headed to: The Veil.

"Harry."

The woman went through the Veil and disappeared on the other side. Sirius started for the Veil; he could hear Harry on the other side shouting, shouting for him.

"Sir, I cannot grant you admission through the Archway." The man in blue stood in front of Sirius, blocking him from the Veil.

"The what? Look, I don't have time for this, my godson-"

"Is beyond your aid."

"_What_?!"

"Sir, the Archway to us, the Veil to them, is designed for a one-way use only."

"And that's the way I'm trying to go! Would you just-"

"I cannot allow you through."

Sirius resisted the urge to slug this guy in the face.

"So _why_ can't I go through?!" he demanded to know.

"You have not been cleared."

"I have not been _what_?! My godson's out there, and I-"

"You are dead."

Sirius faltered on his words. "I'm what, excuse me?" he asked after a moment's pause, wondering if perhaps he heard the man wrong.

"Dead. Those who pass through the Archway return, they become visible after seven days, as ghosts. They are permitted to go through with the proper clearance."

"What?" Sirius asked faintly. "How... ?"

"You came through the Veil. That is not normally thought well of, but seeing as how it was an accident on your part, it will be overlooked."

Sirius turned to look at the "Archway" where he could see the faint outlines of Order members and Death Eaters. The battle looked to be over, but he could faintly hear Harry calling out to him, saw him running after Bellatrix shortly afterwards.

Slowly, the truth of the matter sunk in. He couldn't help.

"What do I do?" he asked no one.

The man answered him. "If you are interested in becoming a ghost, I can direct you to the Waiting Room for further information. If not, I will have someone escort you to the Soul Doors."

"Yeah," Sirius said, nodding in defeat.

* * *

"But, he... he can't be dead," Lily tried to reason. "The EoD, she said we'd be told when one of them dies."

"You know he's right, Lily!" James said harsher than he meant to as they listened to the shouts of Remus telling Harry - who was also shouting - that Sirius was indeed dead.

Lily bit her lip and tried even harder not to cry. James immediately felt guilty. He hadn't meant to snap at her, but with everything that had just happened, he couldn't hold it back.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said, reaching to hold her close. "It's just..." He sighed, trying to hold back his own tears. James knew Harry was strong, that he'd get through this; but he also knew that Harry would always need his godfather, but like he'd always needed them. Watching, only watching, as Sirius was taken from his son too, it was just so hard. "I'm sorry."

Lily offered him a sad smile as she gently touched the side of his face and nodded. Never being able to do anything but watch, it was getting to her, too.

They were about to follow Harry as he began a pursuit of Bellatrix Lestrange, and a clear voice sounded, "New arrival, Sirius Orion Black."

* * *

Sirius was following someone else through the "cave" now, a woman, dressed exactly like the man.

"Mister Black," she said to him, "you have exactly four minutes to get to the Soul Door. If you do not go through a Deed Detector by that time, you will fade. I suggest you take one of the shorter lines."

He followed the woman into a large "room" of the cave, where many more people were located. Sirius didn't have any idea as to what was going on or what the woman was talking to him about, but what else could he do? He got in one of the "shorter lines"the woman had mentioned and waited his turn.

Somewhat amused, Sirius reasoned that he must be dead when he saw a bright, white light flash as a person went through the doors, and thought it was odd that one did see a white light when they died, only not to signal their own death.

With that, new thoughts began to swarm around in Sirius's head. If he really was dead, then was it possible... he could see Lily and James again?

* * *

Harry was in Dumbledore's office, safe at last. But neither of his parents stayed too long; Dumbledore wouldn't have left Harry alone unless he was all right, and they both knew about the Prophecy. Also, James didn't want a repeat of last year, and Sirius hadn't arrived yet. 


	7. Brothers Reunited

"How long is this going to take?" James said impatiently as he and his wife waited for his best mate to arrive. After the initial shock of the matter had worn off, James began growing rather restless waiting for his friend whom he hadn't seen in over fourteen years. Well, he had seen Sirius, but with him being dead and all, that was the extent of it. He didn't quite realize just how much he missed Padfoot until the man had died and he was stuck waiting for him to show up.

* * *

"Congratulations, Mister Black," someone, who was also dressed in blue robes, said to Sirius after he went through the doors the woman had directed him to.

"Why?" he asked, still not fully understanding what was happening around him. "What's going on… what is this?"

The employee ignored Sirius' questions. "Continue down the path, your destination in mind," was all that was said to him.

Pointed down an empty pathway, Sirius walked on, only comprehending the basic instruction; but he thought of seeing James and Lily again all the same. Once or twice, he turned his head back the way he came, thoughts of returning to his godson filling his mind, but something prevented him from moving anyplace but forward.

After a while, Sirius found himself looking upon a once-familiar sight; it was the Potter house in Godric's Hollow, looking just like he remembered it before… that day. "Oh, no way," he muttered to himself, not believing his own eyes.

"Padfoot!" a voice shouted from within the house.

Sirius' grey eyes widened in shock; he knew that voice. "Prongs?"

Sure enough, the front door flew open, and James Potter came out onto his front lawn. Lily stayed inside; she wanted to give the two friends some time alone together, after all, death had kept the two – who were closer as brothers than Lily was to her sister – apart for over a decade, and she could wait a while longer to greet Sirius.

Watching as the two shared a long, brotherly hug, Lily mused to herself, "Well now all they need is for Peaches and Herb to show up and they'll be all set."

"Hey, Black," Lily said as the two came into the house. She hugged him in return as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.

"Hey, Evans."

Lily still wasn't sure if they used surnames because the habit had never been dropped or because of how it annoyed James to no end that people would still associate his wife with her maiden name after he had spent so much time just trying to get her to date him. Lily had to admit that, although she felt her reason was the former and Sirius' the latter, it was highly amusing to watch James jump up and exclaim, "She's 'Potter'! Alright? 'Potter'! Not 'Evans', 'Potter'!" after sitting around all night with the Marauders, who would make a clear point of calling her 'Evans' at every moment that presented itself, trying to provoke such a reaction out of James.

James and Sirius sat down in the living room while Lily strayed into the kitchen; the two had years to catch up on (well, sort of, considering nothing too much happens at Azkaban, where Sirius had been the majority of the time, and nothing much happens to the dead either, but there was still the principle behind it), and Lily could wait before she joined in with them.

Sirius was smiling wider than he could remember smiling in years. Here he was, back at Godric's Hollow, sitting right across from James, seeing him, talking with him. He didn't know if he had started crying or laughing.

"What?" James asked upon seeing his friend's unexpected outburst.

"It's just... I can't believe I'm actually here; I'm with you two again, I--" Sirius paused, looking around the house, at those who lived there. It was something out of the nearly forgotten past. "Oh, god," he cried, his head dropping into his hands, "oh my god."

"Padfoot, what?"

"I have to get back." He stood up, looking about as if to find some hidden escape. "I need to go back."

"Sirius, mate, you can't go back. You're--"

"I know what I am!" Sirius yelled, hysteria beginning to get the better of him. "That doesn't mean I can't get back! Harry--"

"Harry is safe, Sirius! Mate, you need to calm down!"

Sirius ran a shaky hand through his hair. Breathing heavily, he tried to comprehend what Prongs had just told him. He couldn't find it within himself to calm down much though; last he knew, his godson had been fighting for his life against half a dozen Death Eaters. What if Voldemort had shown up since then? What if Harry really needed him? He couldn't help Harry much if he were stuck here, talking to his godson's dead father. Oh, had the situation not been more serious, it would be almost laughable. He had to get back! But James said Harry was safe…

"How the hell do you know he's okay?" Sirius asked, trying desperately to keep his voice level.

"Sirius, it's all right," Lily said, coming in from the kitchen and attempting to coax him into sitting back down. "We saw that Harry is safe; we watched him get to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore is there with him. He'll keep Harry safe."

"You watched?" the recently departed asked incredulously. "You just sat there and watched?"

"Sirius--"

"No! How can you expect me to just stay here and watch! I--"

"Well shit, Sirius!" James jumped up, an old temper rising quickly within him. "And what kind of fucking picnic do you think this has been for us?! Just 'sitting here and watching' all these years as our son deals with things he shouldn't have to even as an adult! You think we like it?!"

"James, stop!" Lily cried out. "You both need to calm down! We can't go back, none of us can! Arguing like this isn't going to change that. It isn't going to change anything." When neither of the two wizards responded, she continued. "Harry is safe now, and that's all that matters for the moment."

James nodded, finding it better to listen to and agree with his wife, and sat himself back down, staring intently at the floor. Sirius, however, remained standing.

"Look, Prongs… I'm sorry. I just…" Sirius sighed. Dying really wasn't as peaceful as many living persons made it out to be. Not that he was exactly looking for perpetual tranquility, but that wasn't really the point anyways. "It just all of sudden… everything hit me at once. I can't believe I'll never see him again," he finished quietly sitting back down.

"Hey, you'll see him again; we all will, only not like it was before we… you know, died."

"I shouldn't have that to you though. I mean, you guys have been here for years, and I've--"

"Forget it," James said. "After all," he continued, a well-known glint lighting behind his eyes, "someone here has got to act the part of resident prat, might as well be you."

Sirius gave a weak chuckle. "Thanks, mate."

Lily left the two boys alone to have their 'manly make-up moment' when she heard a knock at the door that seemed to go unnoticed by those two. It was odd, she thought, that someone would be knocking. Whenever the EoD needed to speak with them or scheduled visitors came over, they always rang the doorbell. But she figured there couldn't be much danger in opening the door; they inside _were_ already dead.

Once she did get the door open, she was face to face with a man who looked somewhat familiar, but Lily had no way of placing him within her memory.

"Can I speak will Sirius?" the man asked.

"Um, who are you?"

"I need to see Sirius," he said, as though he were on a time limit; which was kind of weird considering they were dead and time meant nothing to them. "He is here, isn't he?" Without waiting for an answer, the man made his way into the house.

"'Would you like to come in?' 'Oh, yes please, thank you,'" Lily said to herself in a semi-mocking manner. This man was a bit unnerving after all.

"Sirius!" the uninvited stranger said with obvious relief when he saw Sirius on the living room couch.

Sirius stood up, an almost disbelieving look in his eyes. "R-Regulus?" he managed to choke out in a surprise that was well beyond mild.


End file.
